Team to track alcohol source should be used

Have you ever seen someone drink too much in a bar or restaurant, leave, and then hop in a car and drive away?

Do you think the establishment that served the alcohol should be responsible?

If so, our report this past week that a team created specifically to do that is being vastly under-utilized should frustrate and upset you. The Ohio Investigative Unit has followed up on fewer than 2 percent of alcohol-related crashes and fewer than half the fatal alcohol-related crashes in the state since the team was formed.

Those investigators are dedicated to tracing the source of the alcohol that drunken drivers consumed. The law states that if a bar or restaurant knowingly serves alcohol to a drunken patron, whether that person is driving, walking or riding a bike, the bar or restaurant or its employees could face civil fines or even criminal charges.

It's a difficult standard to be met, for sure, but it's worth the effort. Although people ultimately are responsible for their own decisions, liquor permit holders are required by law to be careful about whom they serve and how much they serve to them. Most of the time, there is no consequence for a bartender to keep pouring drinks because police rarely have time trace where the alcohol came from.

That's what makes the Ohio Investigative Unit's under-utilization on this front frustrating. It's meant to help local law enforcement but it can't get involved if local police don't let it know what's going on. Even if such an investigation doesn't result in a charge or a fine, it certainly should give liquor license holders and bartenders some notice that their actions are being watched and they could be made accountable. How can that be a bad thing?

To be fair, servers of alcohol have many challenges. It can be hard to tell whether someone is inebriated, for example, and drivers might let someone else do the buying, leaving servers without direct contact with them. Fines and charges probably aren't appropriate in those situations. That would explain why, out of 78 investigations triggered this year by fatal alcohol-related crashes, there only were 16 instances in which a person was charged with a crime or a business was fined.

But if there is evidence that a fine or a charge is warranted, then that's what should happen. We would hope that would make other servers be more careful in deciding whether to pour another drink.

We'll never know who survived because a server decided to cut someone off. But any reminder that there are consequences for people besides the drunken drivers only can help in the long run. We encourage local police to keep the Ohio Investigative Unit in mind when they handle alcohol-related crashes in the future.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Team to track alcohol source should be used

Have you ever seen someone drink too much in a bar or restaurant, leave, and then hop in a car and drive away?